Lost in the Sky
by Panda-chan309
Summary: A question is forced upon the Leaf Village: Should they help an enemy? When the daughter of Raikage, the leader of the Village Hidden in the Clouds, comes pleading, what is their answer? Send out Team 7 of course, to reveal past tales.
1. Memories

Golden eyes flashed in the darkness of the night as the thick brush concealed the kunoichi's movements. Her heavy breathing didn't cease as she jumped from tree bough to tree bough, strands of her moonlight white hair ran with the wind as she landed only to take off once more. The woman's deep blue sleeves flapped in the breeze created as she ran.

"Damnit, the missing-nin in the Cloud Village are cruel. How did they retaliate so quickly? Father's captured and..."

She fought back tears as her whispers sank into her mind.

_"Father's captured, the Raikage, he's been..."_

Her mind suddenly came back to reality as two kunai knives embedded themselves in the flesh of her shoulder. A gasp of pain escaped her lips, even as she ran she pulled the knives out. She turned at her two pursuers.

"You won't catch me!" she cried tossing the kunai with an expert's aim as both fell to the ground below.

She grasped her shoulder, and pulled her hand to her sight. Even with the failing light of a cloudy crescent moon, she could see the crimson liquid that stained her feminine hand. Her destination was a five days run, if she made it with good time, possibly a little less and that included short cuts. She knew she would make it, unless the Missing-nin of her village continued to follow her, then it would be a long five days.

The Hokage of the Leaf Village read over reports to the jounin and chunnin off a scroll. Each of the jounin and chunnin, sat straight up listening, others were sitting straight, but their heads were bowed slightly as they slept. Kakashi sat next to Asuma, Kurenai on the other side of him. Asuma held his head up on his fist to keep his head up so that it seemed he was more awake. Kurenai and Kakashi sat straight up as they listened to the Hokage's news. However, one line, got the attention of even the slumbering ninjas.

"The Cloud Village was attacked four nights ago, the Raikage has been captured and held for ransom. The Cloud ninja are finding ways to get him back," the Hokage read out loud, "From what news I have gathered, the villagers in Cloud think that Orochimaru is behind this, due to his recent unusual interests in the Cloud Village. We have little relations with the Cloud Village, however, I will keep you up to date on these things. You are dismissed."

The jounin and chunnins got up, bowed, and then either disappeared in a quick flash or walked out the double doors of the Hokage's office.

Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma walked around the village streets. Asuma still in a daze from being abruptly woken up with the startling news that the Hokage had.

"Do you really think that Orochimaru would attack here?" Kurenai asked.

"He might," Kakashi said as he gazed at his book, "But he seems to be preoccupied with the Cloud Village."

"Kakashi-sama?" a woman's voice came, making all three of the jounins look up at the woman.

Her clothes were full of burrs and sticks from running in the forest, four nights straight, her eyes glazed with wear, the back of her clothes were bloody from the wound on her shoulder. Kakashi didn't recognize the woman that stood before him, but she obviously knew him. What got his attention was the cloud symbol on the headband she wore on her hips. Kakashi went up to her only to catch her as she passed out from exhaustion.

"Come on, we should take her to Hokage, her wounds aren't serious, we can treat them there.." Kurenai said.

Kakashi looked at the girl as she slept on a couch, the Hokage looked over at her. His eyes skimmed her body, before he smiled.

"If memory serves me right, this is Yamashita Amane, the daughter of the Raikage," he said, he brushed his fingers over the cloud symbol engraved in the metal piece of the headband.

"Amane?" Kakashi muttered softly, his memory now began to work with him as he looked at the young woman's face.

His memory allowed him to remember the more vibrant woman of Cloud. She helped to govern the village and always looked forward to coming to other countries to make solid relationships, unlike her father. She had come to the Leaf Village years ago, but only one was successful with the Hokage. She had her fellow follower to thank for that.

"Well I have work to do," the Hokage said as he retracted his hand from Amane's headband, "Watch over her for me Kakashi, alert me when she wakes up, we need to ask her some questions."

Kakashi nodded as he pulled up a chair and sat next to Amane's sleeping body. He sat there, staring at her for the first hour, and for the next eight hours he read his book. Amane's eyes fluttered open as she gazed up, she first so Kakashi, and then looked over at the clock. The hands on the face read a couple minutes after eight. She looked at the large windows that were in the back of the room and the sky sparkled with an evening glaze. Her head turned as she looked at Kakashi, who peered over his book.

"So, you've finally come to? Well, I'm not that disappointed I didn't have to deal with my students today then," Kakashi said.

Amane smiled, "You're still as lazy as ever."

"Well Amane, some people don't change even after eight years," Kakashi said as he patted her on the head and closed his book, placing it in his pocket.

He began to get up, when Amane grabbed his pant leg, "Where are you going?" she asked.

"The Hokage said to come and get him when you woke up, I don't think he knew it would be nine hours later," Kakashi said as he got up and went out the door.

Amane sat up and ran her fingers over the bandage on her shoulder where the stab wounds were. She looked at her blue Chinese dress to see that the burrs and twigs and such was pulled off. Her tight blue gloves that went up high on her arm and then her removable kimono sleeves were folded at the bottom of the couch. She grasped her shurriken holder at the end and opened the flap, it was filled with senbon and kunai knives still. She placed it back down as she heard someone begin to walk in.


	2. Report

"How are you feeling?" the Hokage asked as he sat next to her in a chair.

"Better, I just needed rest," Amane replied in a determined way as she pulled her right hand into a fist.

Hokage laughed, "Same fire as always Amane-chan," he smiled, "Now what can you tell me about the Cloud Village's condition?"

Amane nodded, "Right before father told me to leave, Orochimaru-san took control over our Missing-nin that have been tormenting our village. He had some of his guys like Kabuto also to lead them in groups. Orochimaru got father and he told me to run to the Leaf Village that Sarutobi would help us. I'm guessing that is you Hokage-sama..."

The Hokage nodded as he gazed at Amane, "Well, you're going to be surprised about this, but Orochimaru has ceased attacking the Cloud Village and has given the Raikage back."

"What?" Kakashi and Amane gaped.

"It's true, your hawk, Sora, I believe is her name, am I correct?" the Hokage asked.

Amane nodded, "She only listens to me and my father."

"Yes, a very intelligent animal, anyhow, she came with the message that Orochimaru fled with the Missing-nin and his original group. I don't know what Orochimaru is planning, but I will send Kakashi and his team to escort you back to your village, but please spend the night here to get all of your strength back."

The Hokage got up as he left, "I'm expecting you to take care of her," and with that he left the room.

Amane looked up at Kakashi and sighed as she got up, her legs swayed lightly at having to put weight on them, but held strong. She grabbed her kunai holder and strapped it to her upper right thigh and then slid on her gloves and then the kimono sleeves over them. The sleeves were tied by a deep blue tie, were outlined with purple at the top, and had a deep blue design at the bottom of them. She looked up as Kakashi gave a small nod.

"Come on, I'll get you something to eat," Kakashi said as he exited the room, Amane in tow.

They walked the streets of Konoha for the ramen shop in silence, the only noise was their feet on the soft earth. Amane watched Kakashi's back as he walked in front of her. '_He remembers me, but why won't he speak to me?'_, Amanethought to herself as she heard someone yell.

"Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing here?" a blonde hair boy cried.

"Well, hello Naruto, here with Iruka-sensei?' Kakashi asked.

Naruto nodded, but then gazed behind Kakashi, "Oh," he giggled idiotically, "Who's the girl?" he asked, "Is she -ya know?" he put his fist in front of his face, wiggling his pinky about.

"No, she's our new assignment," Kakashi said, "Amane, this is one of my students, this is Uzamaki Naruto."

"The next Hokage!" Naruto added at the end of Kakashi's sentence.

Amane smiled at Naruto's bright and activeness, "It's nice to meet you Naruto-kun.."

Naruto blushed and giggled, but stopped once Kakashi whispered, 'Careful, she's the daughter of the Raikage,' in his ear.

Naruto gaped, "Seriously?" he asked as he pulled on Kakashi's arm and Kakashi nodded in response as he beckoned Amane into the ramen shop and held up the small curtains for her.

Amane nodded as she went under Kakashi's arm to see the an old man cooking behind the booth and a man with a scar across his nose and his brown hair in a ponytail.

"Iruka," Kakashi said nodding his acknowledgment towards the man, who nodded in return.

Amane sat down at the booth on one of the high stools. She leaned her elbows on the table as she leaned in. Kakashi looked at her as she watched the man begin to cook.

"What do you want? I'm not hungry, I'll pay for you to eat," Kakashi said.

Amane nodded, she didn't bring any money with her so it wasn't like she could pay, "The salmon with vegetables sounds fine.." she said softly.

Kakashi nodded and looked up as the old man nodded, hearing Amane speak. Amane sat looking at the table, until her vision was filled with a bowl of noodles.

Amane placed her hands together as if to pray and bowed her head, "Gotsusosama," she muttered as she raised her head and grabbed her chopsticks.

"Amane-sama," Iruka said, "You're from Cloud, how did you get here?" he asked.

Amane slurped up a few noodles and swallowed before answering, "I ran, I had to, my father was captured as well as the rest of my comrades."

Naruto watched as Kakashi read his book, ignoring that Iruka and Amane were now in a talking. Kakashi looked as if he was reading his book quite intently, but every once and a while he would gaze over at Amane to the point that he would stare at her for moments at a time. Naruto snickered, so his Amane was just a childhood friend, right? He didn't think so.

Once Amane had finished with her ramen, Kakashi looked at her, "Let's go, Naruto let Sakura and Sasuke know to meet us at the gate at eight for the mission," he said in his lazy tone.

Amane nodded as she got up to leave, but then turned, "See you tomorrow, Naruto-kun," she said as she followed Kakashi out.

Naruto nodded as Amane left and then looked at his empty ramen bowl and smiled, "She's pretty Iruka-sensei..." he muttered.

Iruka laughed, "Yes she is, she looks the same when she visited eight years ago, she was sixteen at the time."

"She visited eight years ago? I don't remember," Naruto said.

"You were only four at the time, I doubt you would remember," Iruka said, "She was dressed in this white kimono with red flowers on it," Iruka said in an almost dreamy like voice.

"So you like her too?" Naruto asked.

"Yea I like her, and what do you mean too?" Iruka asked, and then it hit him, "You mean Kakashi? She's been after him for awhile from what I heard, anyhow I think she's a little out of all the Leaf Village men's leagues being that she's directly related to one of the Kages."

Naruto sighed, "I dunno, Kakashi-sensei is obviously in her league," he said, watching Iruka get up.

Iruka laughed, "That may be so, come on Naruto, let's head home."

Kakashi walked up to an apartment building and walked in. He then took a set of stairs up to the second floor. He walked down the hallway, passing three green doors on the right and two on the left, stopping at the third. He took a key out of his pocket and opened the door, walking in. He held the door open for Amane as she walked in.

"It's not much, but it's home. It's a little messy too," Kakashi said.

"That's okay, it makes it homeier, I prefer something be a little out of place, unlike living at my grandfather's house," Amane said picking up a few pillows that were on the floor back on Kakashi's bed.

"It's late," Kakashi said looking out the window at the star strewn sky, "You can sleep in my bed, I'll sleep on the floor."

Amane looked up, "I don't want to be a burden, you can sleep in your own bed, I can sleep on the floor, its really no problem."

"No, I won't have the daughter of the Raikage sleeping on the floor," Kakashi said, sounding extremely respectful, knowing that she outranks him slightly.

"If I'm daughter of the Raikage then I order you to sleep in your own bed," Amane said, using her superiority against Kakashi.

Kakashi scowled slightly at Amane, "Fine, I'll sleep on the bed, and you on the floor, let me go get you blankets and some more comfortable pillows."

Amane watched as Kakashi went into a nearby closet. After the sound of shuffling in the closed place, she saw Kakashi come out with three blankets and two pillows. He set it down on the couch and looked up at Amane. She had released her hair from the bondage of her clips and the ponytail she used. Her dusty silver hair laid over her shoulders and with the moon behind her shining through the window, it gave her an angelic glow. Kakashi stared at her as she walked over to him to begin making her bed. Kakashi still gawked at the Cloud Village's most prized possession.

"Kakashi-sama?" Amane chirped, "Are you going to bed?" she asked.

Kakashi shook his head out of his daze, "No, I'll help you make your bed and then go to my own," he said as he grabbed another blanket.

With the four hands, the floor was quickly converted into a more comfortable sleeping arrangement. Kakashi looked up as Amane sighed, underneath his mask he was blushing ferociously, wanting ever more to close the blind, the access to her heavenly glow. Amane smiled at Kakashi warmly as he gazed upon her.

"Kakashi-sama, I wish you good night," she said softly.

Kakashi nodded, "Me too," he muttered as he went into his bed after he closed the door.

Amane settled upon the floor and rested her heavy head on the down pillows. She pulled the blankets over her slender body, kicking her shoes off as she slipped them back underneath the warmth of the covers. She laid on her side, her hair covered her figure as she rolled onto her stomach. She crossed her arms over her pillow and then rested her chin on the pillow. She gazed out the window that was in Kakashi's apartment. The frosty sky was littered with sparkling dots.

"_The sky is much more open here than at home,_" she thought to herself, she pushed herself up slightly so that she could look over the back of the couch, "_Kakashi-chan, do you still have those same feelings for me we had a couple years ago? Do you still care for me as you use to? _" she felt tears begin to well up in her eyes, "_Kakashi-chan, do you still love me, like you said eight years ago?"_ she set her head down, soothing her tears as she fell asleep.


	3. Meetings

A fifteen year old Amane walked up to the Hokage, her companion was Sinobi Gashir, the head ninja of Cloud Village. Her grandfather had sent them for a peace treaty with the Village Hidden in the Leaves. They walked along the streets of Konoha, villagers gazing at them and waving.

"The villagers here are so nice.." Amane said as she waved back at a few. "Sure are.." Sinobi said waving at a few. Amane gazed at the man aside of her, something about him she didn't trust. He looked down at Amane, "Something bothering you Amane-san?" he asked."No.." she said turning away.

They walked up to a large building, a giant sign read 'Fire' in kanji. Both of the Cloud ninjas walked through the doors and were guided to the Hokage's office by one of the Leaf ninjas. The Hokage sat proudly at his desk, his hands joined together and hovered infront of his mouth as his elbows sat on the desk.

"Hokage-sama.." both of the Cloud ninja said, bowing respectfully. "I was informed that you were coming," the Hokage announced, "but I was not informed on what the reason was." "Kumo wishes to make a treaty with Konoha," Sinobi said bluntly, fixing the headband that covered his right eye.

"After years of war, they wish for a treaty?" the Hokage asked, uncertain about their reactions. "Please Hokage-sama, we are tired of fighting and all we are really doing is killing our people.." Amane pleaded. Sinobi shot her a glare, the agreement was that the naive young girl was suppose to keep her ideas to herself and allow him to talk on behalf of the village. The Hokage eyed this, but nodded, "And what is your name?" he questioned.

Amane stood straight as she answered the Hokage proudly, "Yamashita Amane, granddaughter of the current Raikage," she smiled, bowing to the Hokage once more. The Hokage smiled at the girl's respectful nature, but not so much at her companion's. He turned to Sinobi, "I will see about this agreement, come with me to talk about details. Amane-san, please excuse us."

Amane bowed, taking her leave from the two men. She headed into town, gazing at shops. Catching her eye was the book store, being the intelligent woman that she was she walked over to the racks. Honey hued eyes gazed the titles, one catching her eye.

"Come Come Paradise?" she whispered as she picked up the book and gazed at the book's contents. She picked a page in the middle reading a few sentences. Her only reaction was to quickly place the book back onto the shelf with a scarlet painted face.

"That book does that to first time readers..." a man chuckled from behind her. Amane jumped, blushing deeper that someone saw her grab 'that' kind of book. She turned to face the man behind her, his left eye was the only part of his face was visible. She recognized the attire he wore, it was the same as the cloud's vest and uniform only his was green and not a dusty gray.

"I-I wasn't reading it.." Amane stuttered. Kakashi nodded as he looked over the girl, "What exactly were you doing then?" he asked slyly. "Picking it up off the ground, it fell of the shelf.." Amane lied. Kakashi nodded, his eyes fell to her waist. Not to be perverted like his personality led, but to look at the symbol on the headband that was normally tied upon the head, but hers was around her waist.

"Cloud? What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked. "Peace treaty, my grandfather sent me and the village leader to ask about a treaty between Cloud and Leaf.." "I see..." Kakashi said as he gazed over the girl, she was young about fifteen, he was seventeen.

"My name's Yamashita Amane," Amane said as she ducked under slightly to look the stranger in the eyes. "Hatake Kakashi," the young man said as he blinked looking at the young girl. "Are you of the ANBU?" Amane asked. "No," Kakashi lied, he was in ANBU but today he wasn't assigned a mission, "Why do you ask?" "Well most of your face is covered up, so I thought that maybe that it was your mask for ANBU, but I suppose all of your face would be covered up if you were in ANBU..." Amane said as she calculated her observations.

"You're nosey.." Kakashi muttered. Amane's face wrinkled in annoyance as she stood straight up, "Well fine, I see that you don't want my company.." she huffed as she turned to walk away. Kakashi rolled his eyes, women were complicated. He reached out and grasped her shoulder, "Look I'm sorry, I'm just not use to acting around other people..."

Amane's hazel eyes filled with curiosity on what he meant. "Do you want lunch?" Kakashi asked, something that would help them get to know each other a little better. Amane nodded, her lips curved into an angelic smile, "That sounds great!" she chirped.

Night fell on Konoha as the two ninjas sat on a rooftop close to the Hokage's building. Their legs hung over the edge swaying slowly. Amane was leaning back on her hands gazing upon the clear sky filled with jeweled stars. Kakashi was bent over his legs, his arms crossed over his lap as he looked over at Amane.

"The sky is so much clear than at home..." Amane muttered, "They're mostly cloudy nights or its raining.." Kakashi smiled lightly they had spent the entire day together. Maybe it was because he was lonely from the lost of Rin and Obito, but he enjoyed her company. He turned away, was he falling in love? No, it was just some mixed emotions he had. He glanced back and then away again, no he was sure that he really felt this. Amane watched as Kakashi looked at her and then turned away, "What's wrong?" she asked.

Kakashi tensed as Amane's hand rested on his shoulder, "N-nothing's wrong..." he said gazing at the girl beside him. The moment they had together was shattered as a commotion rose. Both Kakashi and Amane ran to where shinobi had flocked.

"What's going on?" Amane asked. "This is the Hyuuga Clan's home.." Kakashi muttered looking around.

"What's going on?" Amane asked as she looked at a slaughtered Sinobi. She was taken back at the sight, but fought to keep a straight face. "What happened?" she asked coldly. "Your subordinate came and tried to kidnap my daughter. I reacted out of instinct to protect my daughter," the lord of the house said. Amane nodded, "I understand..."

Amane looked to the leader of the Hyuuga clan and his young daughter, Hinata. She walked over to the honorable man as she bowed down before him, "Please forgive my subordinate," she said. The man nodded, "I won't hold a grudge against you for what your villager did..."

Amane nodded, "Thank you, sir.." she looked down at the young girl that clung tightly to her father's parents. "You daughter's name?" Amane asked. "Hinata," he answered gruffly. Amane bent her knees and kneeled down to look the young girl in the eye, "I'm so sorry Hinata-chan, please forgive me for allowing such an awful man in this village..." Hinata shyly nodded not muttering or answering. All Amane needed was that small nod from the young girl as she stood up. Kakashi came up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder to beckon her away back to her room to rest for the night. "I don't know how I will explain this to my grandfather. He doesn't really take my word for things, but I will have to try to make sure the Hyuugas don't get blamed.." Amane whispered to Kakashi. "If you try, that's all we can ask for," Kakashi said as he led her back to her room in the Hokage's building.

One Year Later:

"Greetings Raikage," the Hokage said as he offered a hand to shake. The middle age man firmly grasped his withered hand shaking it roughly. "Greetings Hokage, I've come to settle the confusion of what happened last year. I've brought my daughter Amane, I hope you do not mind, Yuri, her sister didn't wish to come."

The Hokage smiled at the young girl who had aged a year, but still had a vibrant radiance to her. Her silver hair was cascading down over her shoulders and back. A white kimono clung to her body that was covered with scattered pink flowers and green leaves. A thick pink ribbon tied around her waist accenting her curves a little more. Jounin and ANBU were lined outside the Hokage's building behind the Hokage, cautious of the Raikage's movements. They were never trusted, but no Cloud ninja were with the Kage of the Clouds besides that of his daughter.

"Amane-chan, can you please excuse us?" her father asked. Amane snapped to attention as her gaze sat on a certain ANBU ninja. She nodded, "Of course father," she said respectfully watching the Hokage and Raikage walk into the boarding room. The other ANBU scattered and the other leaf ninjas followed their Hokage. One stayed, standing his dog mask staring at her. He slid it off his face on to the side of his head. Kakashi's face was revealed beneath a small smile hidden from his mask. Amane ran to him, arms open wide as she embraced him. He swung her around off her feet as both laughed.

"Oh I missed you! Keeping in touch with Sora isn't enough!" Amane exclaimed as she was settled back on her feet. "Yes, letters don't fill those gaps from seeing each other..." Kakashi muttered as he was dragged by the hand. "Let's go, come on, you have to fill me in on what you couldn't tell me in the letters."

The afternoon had flown by the two teenagers as they headed back to the Hokage's office. The dark night sky had sprawled across the heavens and heavy clouds loomed over the buildings. Once inside, Amane could see her father's Raikage robes as he rushed over to her and grabbed her wrist roughly. "We're leaving," he hissed as he dragged her out.

Amane's wrist burned with her father's rage as she was forcefully dragged, "Father, what's going on?" she cried. "You made it seem that Sinobi had done something horrible. It was a little girl and he didn't even harm her no less!" her father yelled at her. Amane winced at her father's words, he was just as thoughtless as her grandfather. She turned to see Kakashi following her and her father, 'Help me...' she mouthed to him, her honey eyes pleading to him.

Her father pulled her behind the closing gates as she watched Kakashi try to reach out to her. "Don't associate with those damn Leaf Villagers!" her father hissed at Kakashi, "Stay away from her!" as Cloud ninjas landed around them. Amane tried to escape not wanting to go home to her father's wrath.. Cloud ninjas grabbed her arms and waist to pull her away. Tear rolled down her porcelain cheeks as she reached out to Kakashi, but he was still behind the gate as it closed.

**"Kakashi!"**

"Amane wake up! Come on wake up!" Kakashi cried shaking the trembling girl's body. He was woken up by Amane's soft cries so he looked over the edge of his bed to see if she was okay. He immediately slid out of bed seeing tears running down her face and now she was screaming in her sleep.

Amane woke up with a jerk as she sat up on the floor. Her chest heaved with desperate gasps of air as she held her face in her hands. Kakashi was kneeling beside her on the floor watching this horrid sight. He slowly took the trembling girl into his arms, holding her tightly. Amane didn't even realized Kakashi was holding her as she sobbed.

"It's okay, everything's alright," Kakashi muttered. He set his face in her hair taking in her scent of sweet lavender. "Shh, Amane...you're okay..."

Slowly Amane regained control of her emotions as she looked up to Kakashi, but to her surprise he didn't stop rocking her gently and kept her in his arms. Kakashi kept holding onto Amane until she fell asleep in her arms. He placed her limp body back down on the crumpled blankets, shifting strands of dusty colored hair from her peaceful face.

_"What was she dreaming of? She yelled my name before she woke up..."_

Kakashi got up off the floor and went back to his bed, ruffling his hair. His feelings were screwing up his head as he settled back into his bed, hopefully, Amane would sleep through the rest of the night.


	4. Ambush

Sun light filtered into the blinds on the wide windows in Kakashi's apartment. The rays soon hit Amane in the face causing the young woman to wince and open her honey eyes. She blinked softly getting us to the morning light and then looked at the clock reading it, seven thirty. Her and Kakashi needed to meet the group at eight, she sighed sitting up on the floor, rubbing her face to wake her up. Her hands stuck to her creamy skin, her face was sticky from the tears that had dried.

"_Did that really happen last night? Was Kakashi holding me?"_ Amane thought to herself as she got up and looked at Kakashi in his bed. He was still sprawled out on his bed, sleeping peacefully. She shook his shoulder to arouse him from his slumber, but he hit her hand away gently. She crossed her arms across her chest in annoyance, but decided she wouldn't waste her time. She looked to the back of the apartment, where there was a bathroom. She scurried into the room, closing the door behind her, desiring a much needed shower.

Turning on the faucet and setting the temperature, she slipped from her clothes and then slid behind the curtains. Scrubbing days of dirt and dried blood off her wounds and body, she bathed within minutes. She grabbed her towel off the bar on the wall beside the shower and dried her hair quickly. She stepped out from the curtains, the towel wrapped around her body.

She stared upon herself in the mirror as she dried off and dressed. Amane's silver hair was pulled into a long, cylinder shaped ponytail holder and then she placed bobby pins in it to make it stick up and fan out behind her head and not lay against her shoulders. Her country's headband was tied around her slender waist. She slid on her separate kimono sleeves and gloves. Reaching down to the cold floor, she picked up her kunai pouch and strapped it to her right thigh. She looked in the mirror and gazed at her reflection. The girl in the mirror wore the look of pure determination and anger. Amane's thoughts were tangled around Orochimaru, he screwed around with her village and she wouldn't stand for it. She would figure out his plans and kill him whenever she got the chance, she was sure of that.

Exiting the bathroom, she looked over at Kakashi's bed, Kakashi's empty bed. The sheets were curled and wrinkled where they were tossed aside, but there was no body in between the blankets. Running out of the apartment, she looked around to find an empty hallway.

"_That bastard, he left without me!"_ Amane thought as she grabbed a small backpack and snatched a few items that would be helpful from Kakashi's house. She ran out the door locking it behind her, and then to the gates of Konoha.

At the gates stood three young students, Kakashi's students, Amane figured since Naruto was there. One was a boy, raven black hair, stone face expression and the other was a girl with vibrant pink hair and an impatient look upon her face.

"Amane-sama!" Naruto cried waving Amane down. Amane smiled as she walked up to the group. Naruto turned to his teammates, "That's Sakura-chan," he said to the girl who smiled, "and that's Sasuke," Naruto finished as he pointed to the other boy.

Amane nodded in acknowledgment and looked at Naruto, "Kakashi's not here?" Sakura shook her head, "Kakashi-sensei's always late, he's never on time."

"That's why we met up about ten minutes ago, it's already nine," Naruto said. Amane nodded looking around. As she turned to look behind her Kakashi appeared infront of her, startling her and making her jump.

"Hey there," Kakashi said as he waved to his team.

"You're late!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at him. Amane glared at Kakashi.

"What?" Kakashi asked looking at her. "I thought you left without me, I get up take a shower and you're no where to be found," Amane said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Ah that's because I was outside peeping in on you and then went for breakfast," Kakashi said, but quickly put his hands in front of him waving them innocently. "I'm joking, I'm joking," he told the enraged Amane. Amane turned away from Kakashi, but not before backhanding Kakashi across the face.

The students looked at Amane, smiling and chuckling, they had found someone that Kakashi seemed to be afraid of. Kakashi slumped behind Amane as she led the group towards her village. To save their strength, it would take them around five days to get to the Cloud Village. Leading the group to the village, Amane walked ahead and Kakashi in the back leaving the three genin in between the two.

The silence was finally broken when Naruto began to talk, "Soo...Amane-sama, what exactly are we doing on this mission?" Amane looked back at the blonde boy, "My village was under attack by a man by the name of Orochimaru, maybe you heard of him?"

The name caught all of their attention, especially Sasuke's. His eyes widen and his steps faltered as he walked, but he balanced himself quickly. Amane stopped and turned to him, "Sasuke-kun?" she questioned, but felt Kakashi's hand on her shoulder. "Just go, he'll be okay.."

Amane nodded slowly and kept walking, Sakura joined her at her side and began to create conversation with Amane. They spoke about their villages and families at home. Sakura got Amane on the conversation of her sister and there was a long rant about her and her 'annoying' qualities.

The day was spent walking and stopping every once and a while for a quick rest only to get back up and continue on their way. The sunset began to paint the sky with vibrant pastels and the group's walking had slowed to a crawl. Sakura and Amane were still side by side, their conversation had hit a lull. Amane's eyes brightened at a loud shout, "Move!" Kakashi cried to the group ahead. Sakura looked to Amane confused, "He said 'move' for a reason!" she cried at the girl as she grabbed her arm and pulled her into her chest out of the shurriken's path.

Sakura's eyes widen as she felt herself be pulled into Amane, missing the shurriken that was aimed for her. Both of the girl's skidded across the dirt road and up against a tree. Naruto and Sasuke pulled out their own weapons looking around for an enemy. Kakashi looked over at Amane as she asked Sakura if she was okay before allowing the young kunoichi to return to her comrades' side. A barrage of shurriken rained down on the group. Scattering, the group found themselves within the tree limbs. All eyes fell upon the dirt path where their enemy had revealed herself.

Deep crimson strands waved themselves around her and bright red eyes eyed her opponents like those of a hawk. The black corset like top she wore was tight against the curves of her body and the red ribbon highlighted the seams in it. A pair of slender black pants finished off her apparel as she stood looking at the group from a tree bough. A sadistic grin crossed this woman's lips as she spoke in a haunting tone.

"Amane-sama, it will be my pleasure to assassinate you," she grinned, "Reina, leader of the Cloud's Missing-nin is at your service..." she said with a giggle. Amane looked back upon the group. She didn't want them to fight so soon and become injured. The best thing was for her to take on Reina and finish the fight quickly.

"Amane, are you? Or shall I?" Kakashi asked looking at his comrade's face. "I will, I'll make it quick. We can't lose time," Amane insisted as she crouched down like a tiger, ready to pounce upon her prey.

Naruto looked at Amane. She didn't look like the fighting type, her arms were thin, yet her legs had some muscle, but they were built for running and jumping. She was also someone who was cherished by the Cloud Village, because of her father. Would they let someone so special fight? Naruto glanced over at his teacher, "Kakashi-sensei are you sure you want to send her alone into battle? I mean–" Naruto started. Kakashi nodded as he looked back at Amane.

Amane gave a sly smirk, "You have no idea what I'm capable of, Naruto-kun."


	5. Fight

Amane stood a good distance from the group, so that they wouldn't get involve, but she was almost directly below Reina. Amane shifted her bangs out of her eyesight as she looked up to her opponent. "Well, I'm ready..." Amane said, with a bored tone.

Reina smirked as she faded from sight. Amane's eyes widen, but tried to keep her calm composure. "_She wasn't that fast the last time I met her, I need to know...what direction? She wouldn't put herself above, her Earth Techniques won't aid her in the air. However..." _

Amane's rational thinking took only a matter of moments before she propelled herself up above the ground. Reina forced herself through the ground, hand reached out to grab her victim. Amane tilted her body ever so slightly in the air. With her right hand, she reached into her hair and pulled out the tan and white feather that rested in the silver strands. With her index and middle finger, Amane held the feather and placed her hands out infront of her. She crossed her hands her right palm on top of the back of her left hand as if to push something.

"Ninpou Fuusajin!" Amane cried.Ffrom her overlapping palms, she sent a blast of air at Reina. The blast sent Reina back to the earth, with a sickening crack from the ground breaking beneath her. Amane was sent further into the air, but landed on a tree branch waiting for the dust to clear.

Naruto and the group were still in the line of trees watching the battle. Naruto's idea of Amane being a pampered little princess quickly diminished once he saw Amane's attack. His sapphire blue eyes gazed upon the young woman. It was obvious she wasn't much of a fighter though. Amane's silver hair stuck to her face where perspiration had formed and her lips were parted to allow more air into her lungs as she breathed heavily.

"Kakashi-sensei? Is Amane-sama going to be okay?" Sakura asked, breaking the tense silence on the group. "It probably has been awhile since Amane has had to fight herself and not the guards that protect her, but she can do it." Kakashi assured Sakura. Kakashi glanced back over to the fight, if needed, he would help her, but he felt that Amane wanted this to be her fight. The look in her eyes when Reina came before them, the pure wildness in her golden eyes. The will to fight.

Amane's chest heaved with each ragged breath she took. Her honey hued eyes glared at the scene below, "What?" a harsh whisper left her dry throat. The deep crevice in the ground, it was empty. Amane turned to look behind her, but her movements weren't quick enough as she was forced off the branch and towards the ground. Reina's fist glowed with the blue energy of chakra to give her punch an extra force to it. Amane tumbled to the ground and rolled until the momentum let up. She groaned softly as she picked up her head to find a pair of feet in front of her. Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled up off the ground by her collar.

"Gotcha sweetheart..." Reina laughed. Amane smirked, "I don't go down without a fight..." She pulled her legs up and swung forward and pushed her feet against Reina's chest. Without missing a beat. Amane grabbed her senbon and sent a fleet at Reina. The fight had now turned physical.

Kicking, pushing, slapping, throwing, all the physical elements of a fight, nothing but raw force. Amane's kicks were returned by Reina with a punch or a toss of her own kunai, which was returned with shurriken. They had both worn each other down within minutes. Amane pinned Reina against a tree, both breathing heavily and scratched from skidding across the ground when they were knocked down.

"Tell me!" Amane yelled at Reina, the weakened kunoichi glanced up at the sudden energy burst of the weak ninja in front of her. "Why has Orochimaru come to our village?! What does he want?!" Reina's small smirk told Amane that none of her questions would be answered. The form she had held in her hands was no longer solid as Reina's form turned to mud and fell to the ground. Amane turned behind her to find a hunch over Reina. Her crimson eyes were narrowed into an angry glare, "You've won this battle, but you won't win the war..." and with a wisp of smoke, she was gone.

Amane's hand slid down the bark of the tree and her knees hit the ground beneath her. Over exerting herself had caught up, muscles were sore and it was hard to move. Kakashi was at her side within moments, helping her up on to his back. "I can walk," she protested as she went to push away. "Don't be stupid, we need your guidance to get to your home. Let's go..." he situated her on his back and started to continue ahead behind his students.

Amane wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face against his back. Her eyelids began to feel heavy, but she tried hard to stay awake. She could feel Kakashi's chuckle within his body, "Just go to sleep, you'll just have the longest watch tonight..." "That sounds okay..." Amane said sleepily as she closed her eyes and nuzzled down into Kakashi's green vest.

((_Author's Note: Hey guys! I figured it was about time I chimed in here a little. Thank you for reading my story! I soo happy that I've got reviews. Hopefully those who did review got the messages I sent back to them. Anyway I thought I would add that Amane's attack, if you're extremely familiar with the Naruto series, you would know what it is. The attack she used was one of Termari's. I was going to make up attacks, but when I tried they sounded lamer than Pokemon attacks -.-;; how depressing...Anyway, I think the reason this chapter took so long was because of all the editing I had to do to it. I had to restart the entire chapter, because I had the lame Pokemon attacks in it (haha) and it wasn't written very well. _

_Once again thanks a lot for your support! I'm glad that some of you like Amane! I thought I would get hate letters about from the overly possessive Kakashi fan fanatics lol. Well thanks again.---Panda-chan))_


	6. Dirt

The path towards the Cloud Village began to turn step. The village resided in the mountains and kept it's secretcy within the thick, low-lying clouds. The overbearing mountains gave into subtle rolling sides where a valley laid, protected from outside enemies. The gates of the Cloud Village were between two mountains and behind it was a long path down into the actual village.

"It took five days, but we got here," Sakura said, her breathing heavy from having to hike up the steep sides of the natural barriers.

Amane turned to look at the group. They all were looking a little ragged, but so was she. Five days without a decent amount of sleep in one sitting, going non-stop, was hard, even for the most trained ninja. But, Amane felt a wave of relief when she saw the towering gates of her village.

A ninja stood in the guard post that was built into the side of the mountain. He raised a brow seeing the group approaching. "Who go-" he started to yell out, but stopped. His superior was looking up at him, a bright smile upon her face. "Amane-sama!" he cried, "Your mission was a success?" he jumped down from his post.

Amane nodded, "This is the group from the Leaf Village, Kiel," she held her hand out, palm up, presenting them each, "Hatake Kakashi, Uzamaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura."

She watched the guard nod in response to each name, "You father was worried about you. You missed quite a bit, but maybe they," motioning his head towards the Leaf group, "can help us figure out what the hell is going on."

"What is going on?" Kakashi asked, "We should have an update of everything that's been happening since Amane-san's absence."

The guard looked slight irked at Kakashi's lack of respect towards the Raikage's daughter, but he let is slide. He ran his fingers through his black bangs that hung over his forehead protector. He pounded a rhythm upon the giant gates and with that signal, they swung open. The group made their way through.

"Well, you see, the attacks ceased two days after Amane-sama was dispatched. The attacks just stopped, maybe it was because they found out Amane-sama had gone to your village for help. We've been fixing up what was broken, as you can tell," Kiel pointed out the battered buildings that were being patched by village men.

Amane looked around at her broken village. The buildings were a dull gray, blended in with the ever constant cloud cover. The village's shops had broad, long signs that were normally white, most were broken and laid on the ground as rubble. The strong buildings were riddled with missing shingles, siding or even walls. The villagers that were working, looked down at the group passing through, flashing smiles at Amane, but glaring at the help they received. Amane couldn't help but sigh, her father had rubbed off on them.

Amane's subordinate Kiel guided them towards the Raikage's building, the giant white and gray sign, painted with the Cloud symbol. "Thank you, you can head back to your post, Kiel," Amane replied, dismissing him. Kiel bowed his head and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Amane sighed, looking back at the street they had walked up. Some of the villagers had stopped staring once they had passed, but some had not. Amane glared at them and raised her voice, "Don't you have something to do?!" she hissed. Kakashi's group turned to see the villagers that were staring, jumped and quickly obeyed their Lady's orders.

Amane looked back at her tailing group, Naruto's wide blue eyes gazed upon her at her sudden outburst, "Sorry," Amane muttered. She shook her head, angry at herself for losing her temper and pushed the doors to the Raikage's building. Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura following in step behind her.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The building opened up to a large lobby. At the back wall was a staircase that came down to the left and to the right. It was covered with a thick red carpet. On top of the stairs was a second level with a gold railing. One door was visible, before the second level became hidden by the hallway on either side. The lobby on the first floor, branched out to two hallways on either side as well.

A woman stood at the bottom of the steps on the right. The woman looked to be in her late twenties, but the look on her face made her look like a grouchy old lady. Dull silver hair cascaded down her back and her silver irises were narrowed at Amane. A black turtleneck was underneath her white and brown outlined shirt and a brown skirt covered her legs to mid thigh. Thick white stocking climbed up past her knees meeting the edge of her skirt. Fingers tapped her sides as her hands rested roughly on her sides.

"Well, well, my sister has finally decided to come home. And look who you bring, the enemy of our village. Some faith uncle and father placed in you," her sister's words came out in a lowly hiss.

Both women took steps forward, so that they were face to face, "Well, Yuri, I don't expect you to understand my reasoning. With a head as thick as yours, I don't expect you to understand much of anything."

"Why you!" Yuri raised her hand, but her hand never made contact against her sister's flesh, as she heard her father's voice.

"Yuri! Amane! Stop it!" he growled. Both of the women looked up at their elderly father, in the yellow Kage outfit. His beared black and white chin was visible beneath the large hat, but he tilted the hat upwards. An angular face glared down at the entire group and gray eyes narrowed upon them, as if they were dirt.

"Amane, come with me, bring your visitors."

A chill ran down Amane's spine at her father's cold voice. Shoving her sister out of the way, Amane headed up the stairs, her eyes on the ground. Kakashi followed behind her, with his students in tow.


	7. Them

Amane's eyes refused to meet her father's cold grey ones as she stood before him. The back of the room had two large windows, almost from ceiling to floor. On the sides of the windows were large, towering bookcases, filled to the maximum with books. The curtains were pushed to the side, but there was little light filtering through the outside fog. Her father's desk was large and curved around his large chair. He sat in his chair bent over his desk, his posture resembled Tsunade's.

Amane's honey irises glanced back at Kakashi and his group of Genin behind her. Her eyes slid back to the ground when she heard the chair legs rub against the carpet. Her father had situated himself and now, she could feel his gaze burning through her.

"I expected you to go anywhere, but to the Leaf. But yet, you disappoint me, and go to my enemies? What exactly were you thinking my child, especially since you bring _him_ with you.."

Amane shuddered at her father's terse voice on him, she knew who him was. Kakashi. Her father for some, unknown reason, had never liked Kakashi, maybe it was because he came from the village that killed his most valuable ninja years ago.

"Papa," Amane whispered, her voice that of a child, "I--"

"Not a word!" her father screamed. Amane's eyes gazed upon the enraged man, her golden eyes quivering. "You deliberately disobeyed me! You went to a village that was a five days journey away, instead of going to one that was closer!" he smashed his fist on to his desk.

"Papa!" Amane cried, "You've have ruined all relations with the other villages. They wouldn't help us if I asked. They would have killed me on the spot if they knew I was from Cloud! Leaf was the only village I had relations with still that I knew would help us. Don't patronize me! I know that I went against your 'beliefs', but they came. They came to help us. Papa, listen to me, they are good people. A simple accusation shouldn't determine the rest of the future..."

Her father's eyes would kill someone, if looks could kill. He finally sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. He released a groan of frustration and sighed, "Fine Amane, do as you wish, but if they do one thing, one thing wrong. They will be exiled from the village and you will be punished as well."

Amane nodded, "Yes, sir."

"I expect you and them to be attending the festival tomorrow night. You, Amane, have no choice in the matter considering you're my daughter. They will show up, so that they are within my eyesight. Now, you are dismissed."

"Yes, sir," the five replied, bowing their heads and leaving the room for the afternoon.

* * *

Kakashi and his students followed behind Amane as she showed them to their rooms on the second floor. Night had settled so once they were each showed to their rooms, they went to bed. Amane looked up at Kakashi, the only one by her side at the moment.

"Here, your room," Amane said as she opened the door and presented the guest room. The room was on the small side. A single bed pushed against the wall on the left side and a night stand with a lamp next to it. Across the five foot space of carpet to the right wall was the chest of drawers. "Sorry, it's not our good guest rooms. Father won't let me give them to you."

Kakashi walked into the room, just passed the door frame and chuckled, "Don't worry, it's heaven just thinking we'll be sleeping on a bed and not on the ground tonight."

Amane smiled sweetly at him. She dropped her head, "I'm sorry, my father, he's not normally like this but..."

Amane felt her words get caught in her throat as strong, masculine arms wrapped around her back and she was pulled into Kakashi's green vest. A sharp gasp left her lips as her chin just rested on his shoulder. His embrace tightened on her as his chin rested down on her shoulder.

"Kakashi...?" Amane whispered.

The moment lasted just that, a moment. Kakashi quickly recoiled and shook his head, "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. Good night, Amane-chan," he said as he closed the door.

Amane stood there, befuddled, would be a good word. She went to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. Sitting down on her luxurious, queen sized bed and thinking. For the first time, in years, Kakashi said something that had caused her knees to go weak.

"Amane-chan..." the word graced her lips with a small smile. She laid her head on her fluffy pillow. She closed her eyes, the smile still on her lips.

* * *

"Yuri-sama, everything is in order."

"Of course, I trust you with everything. Now let's see how my dearest sister breaks tomorrow night."


	8. Blood

Amane stood behind Sakura as she fixed her hair up in a bun with chopsticks sticking through of it. The festival, for the kuniochis, was a way to show their beauty beneath their brawn as ninjas. Amane's hair was in a messy bun with senbon sticking through it to make it more decorative. She pulled the pink strands of Sakura's hair firm so that it wouldn't fall out of the bun while they were out at the festival. Amane smiled as she leaned into Sakura's ear.

"How's that?" she asked softly. "It looks great! Thank you Amane-sama!" she said standing up gazing over her kimono as well as her hair. Sakura's kimono was a black with cherry blossom petals scattered about with a yellow tie. She was thrilled that Amane allowed her to use one of the kimonos that she grew out of. She turned her gaze to Amane and snickered thinking of her sensei's reaction to her.

Amane was adorn in a white kimono that had light purple detailed flowers covering the fabric. A thick red tie was around her waist with a smaller white tie the same material as her kimono. She truly looked like royalty as she stood in front of the mirror fixing a loose strand of her hair.

"I'm going downstairs Amane-sama.." Sakura said sliding off the stool that was in front of a large mirror. Amane nodded, "I'll be down in a little." Sakura nodded as she walked out the door and down the hallway.

The boys were in Kakashi's room as Kakashi attempted to get them looking somewhat nice for the festival. Sasuke was outside leaning against the wall a few inches away from the doorway. He was in a dark blue with light blue trim kimono with a black robe over top for a layered look. Kakashi's shouts from inside the room and the roughhousing made it obvious that Naruto wasn't happy with the looking nice idea.

Finally Naruto was pushed out of Kakashi's room, he was adorn in an orange kimono with a blue robe beneath that showed along the collar and some in the sleeves. Kakashi came out with a plain silver colored robe with a matching tie. A simple robe, but since it was open a bit showing his bare chest. Sasuke and Naruto both looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He seemed to be trying to catch Amane's eye.

The group of males headed downstairs to see the two females of the group. They were standing together, near the doors. Ninjas that worked for the Raikage were filtering in and out. All of them were dressed in kimonos as well. Amane looked up at the stairwell as Sasuke and Kakashi calmly walked down the steps, whereas Naruto tumbled down the steps, full force. Kakashi rolled his eyes and made his way to Amane.

Amane linked arms with Kakashi as she gazed up at him. "You look beautiful," Kakashi muttered. Amane laughed, "And you look very handsome. You clean up well," her eyes wandered to what chest was showing. Her face splashed pink and she turned away.

Kakashi caught her blushing and pulled her towards him so that she looking straight into his face, "What is so embarrassing?" he muttered.

Amane shifted uncomfortably, "Not a thing..." she whispered, her breath hot against his skin, even through his mask. She turned away from him, and slipped from his grasp. She ran ahead, turned back looking at him. She bent at her waist and giggled, as if to egg him on.

* * *

The center of the Cloud Village was decorated with festive booths selling fans and masks. Banners and streamers were strung about the houses and buildings creating a colored facade upon the village. Music was being played in the center on a platform. People were in front either talking near the back of the clearing or in the middle and front dancing to the rhythm of the music.

Sakura was by the fans, picking up a few of the fans and fluttering them in front of her face. Naruto was by the masks, trying a few on before settling with one that resembled the ANBU masks. Sasuke was at the booth where decorative swords and kunai were displayed. He looked like he was concentrating on the objects. He did smirk every once and awhile at a nicely made sword to show that he was indeed enjoying himself.

Amane and Kakashi were in the back of the festival. Kakashi's arms around Amane's waist. Her back against his chest, he had caught her when she ran away. Amane was a deep crimson as she struggled against Kakashi's embrace.

"Kakashi.." Amane whispered, "W-What are you doing?"

"Making up for lost time," Kakashi whispered as he rested his head on her shoulder, "I've ignored you for almost ten years."

"You had ANBU missions and students. Besides, the less time I spent with you," Amane broke away from his embrace, "the happier my father was."

Kakashi looked at the ground, "I see."

Amane turned around and grabbed Kakashi's face gently in her hands. Her gaze into his eyes was that of the love-struck teenager she was years ago, she still loved him. "Things have changed over the years Kakashi, just give us a little time to get to know each other again. I-I don't want to commit to something, if we have changed that much."

Kakashi nodded, "You're right. Let's just enjoy tonight," he said as he began to walk away.

Amane ran up and looped her arm in Kakashi's, "But there's no harm in acting like the teenagers we used to," she snickered and leaned her head against Kakashi's sinewy arm. She could feel him chuckle and his soft answer of, "No harm, no foul."

Night fell quickly upon the festival and by the time the Raikage made his way up and interrupted the music, everyone was on the dance floor, whether it be dancing or just watching. Once the Raikage got attention of his villagers, Amane hurried to his side. The opposite side of her father where her sister stood, smiling. Amane watched her sister out of the corner of her eye. Her sister was up to something, she could see it in her eyes.

"I see everyone is enjoying themselves! Please, enjoy this night. Relax. You have all worked hard in making sure the construction is almost complete and keeping the village safe. Have a good night! " he cried as he began to head back. He stepped down the steps carefully, but slipped a little. Amane caught his arm to help steady him, "Are you okay, Papa?" she asked.

He looked up at his daughter and gave her a weak smile, "Yes. I'm a little tired tonight. My age must be catching up with me. I'll head up to bed. Behave, watch over those miscreant friends of yours," there was complete seriousness in his voice, but a tinge of light humor. He kissed her gently on her cheek and left.

Kakashi placed his hand on her shoulder, "Come on," he said leading her back to Naruto and the others. Naruto cheered her up quickly as he attempted to dance to the music, only to fall on his face.

* * *

"Shall we begin?" "Yes, let's start.."

* * *

A kunai flew across the crowd embedding itself into a ninja within the group that was on the dance floor. It hit his shoulder, but he fell down in pain from the impact. The whole village went into turmoil as people ran about trying to escape the Missing-nins that began to attack.

"Everyone head for the shelter!" Amane cried trying to force them into the Cloud Village's shelter which was a couple of the residents' cellar doors that lead into a large hideaway for the entire village. It was hard though, because as groups headed for the shelter they were caught by one of the Missing-nins. Luckily amongst the crowds were the jounin and chunnin of the Cloud Village who fought off the enemies along the innocents to get to safety. "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan, please go to the shelter," Amane said as she looked at Kakashi's group. They all shook their heads,

"No Amane-sama, we're going to stay here, you need the help.." Sakura said.

Amane nodded, "Thank you," she said, "Find Kakashi then, I lost him in the chaos. Stay with him please.." she said as she ran off. The group quickly ran about trying to find their sensei.

Amane looked around finding a Missing-nin terrorizing a group of women. Amane threaded her fingers around the senbon in her hair, pulling the three needles out. She tossed them, hitting the man in the shoulder allowing the women to flee. Amane grabbed the man by the neck and pulled him down to her eye level, "What's your motive?" she yelled. "What's that?" he asked innocently. "What the hell are you doing here!?" Amane cried as she pulled out a kunai and held it to his throat.

"The Raikage..." the man said. Amane's eyes widen, "Bastard..." she hissed as she slit the man's throat with no mercy, he was wanted dead anyway. "I have to find my father..." she muttered as she tried to get around the chaos.

Kakashi had already figured out what the reason was for the attack. He ran up the stairs trying to find the Raikage's bedroom. '_Dammit, If they got to him--'_ Kakashi thought as he ran opening all the doors. He heard a thumping around in a room up ahead and ran up to the door and opened it.

The Raikage was against the wall, his blood splattered against the wall. A sword was in his chest and went through him and into the wall. His head shifted lightly to look at Kakashi, he didn't have much time left. He coughed up a mouth full of blood as it cascaded down from his lips down his chin and into his lap.

"K-Kakashi-kun..." the man whispered weakly. Kakashi ran up to his side, his breath was taken away at the sight. He kneeled down, his robe soaking up what blood was on the ground. A shaking hand settled on Kakashi's shoulder as the Raikage spoke, "I'm sorry," he whispered, "To set things straight, I don't hate you. But, Amane, she loves you. I was afraid that you were going to take her away from me. But, I guess that's a father's fear, for their daughter to be swept off their feet by their Prince Charming. I-I'm sorry for everything. Please, tell Amane, I love her. I only wanted the best for her, and it wasn't enough. I-I was a failure as a father."

"No," Kakashi said, "You're not. You raised Amane perfectly."

The Raikage looked at Kakashi with glazed eyes. His lips chapped and the blood in his mouth coated his teeth as he spoke, "She's not the one I was talking about. My Amane, she will always be my p-pride and joy. But, p-please, don't let her become Raikage. I d-don't want this fate for her..."

He coughed up another mouthful of blood and his head rolled to the side. Kakashi felt his hand slid off his shoulder. He was dead. Kakashi reached up gently and ran his hand over the Kage's open eyes to close them. He bowed his head, respectfully, but quickly snapped up his head.

"PAPA!!"

Kakashi turned to see his team and Amane at the door, "Get her out of here!" he yelled. His team stood there in shock for a moment until their sensei yelled again, "Naruto! Get her out of here!" he hissed.

Naruto pulled Amane out of the door with the assistance of Sasuke. They settled her outside the door where Amane fell down to her knees sobbing. Sakura wrapped her arms around Amane, holding her gently as she sobbed. Kakashi's eyes were sober as he pulled the sword out that tarnished the old man's regal corpse. He could do nothing for the man now. What he had to do was help carry out his last will.


	9. Miracle

The clear liquid swirled around in the bottle as Amane twisted her wrists. The sting of the sake wasn't enough though. She looked at her clock that rested on the table beside her bed, 11:45. She had been at this for the past two hours and yet, the tears still ran down her face. She leaned back, her left hand supporting her upper body and spread her slender legs horizontally across the bed. Placing the bottle against her lips, she took a another swig. She glanced to the side, at the top of her bed.

"Aren't you suppose to stop me?" she asked Kakashi. He sat close legged, leaning against the pillow that he had propped up against her wooden headboard. Both had been changed into less formal wear, but the kimonos they wore were bloodstained.

* * *

After Kakashi had removed the sword, he went to move the body. Chunnins and jounins of Cloud had began to filter in at that moment. Painfully, they took the body of their leader from Kakashi and began to take him to prepare the body. They stopped at the doorway and allowed Amane to see her father one last time.

Amane reached out as her father's limp body was settled into her quivering arms. She slowly wrapped her arms around his cold body. His face, she smiled, she had never seen him look so at peace. She gently took her kimono sleeve and wiped away what blood had tarnished his face. She cradled his body, rocking back and forth gently. She placed her face in his hair, relishing the gentle scent of cologne that he wore. Tears ran smoothly down her cheeks as she released her grasp on the body and waited for one of the jounin men to take him from her.

"Make sure he gets cleaned up, and clean clothes too..." Amane muttered.

"Of course, Amane-sama," he replied and took the body with him.

* * *

"I'm not going to stop you," Kakashi replied. The simple comment returned Amane to the present. "I figure you'll stop, eventually..."

Amane chuckled, "Eventually, when I mean out you pass." Yep, she was completely plastered and the switch of words was evidence enough.

Kakashi sighed, taking the bottle from her hands. Without a second thought, he pulled down his mask and chugged the rest of the bottle. Amane watched in awe as he drank down the pungent liquid in ten seconds flat.

He pulled the clay bottle away from his lips and shuddered. His eyes met Amane's. Her look resembled that of a child that had seen the circus for the first time, completely awe-struck. "What?" he questioned.

"Y-Your face..." Amane muttered. Angular lines contoured his face ever so gently. Skin was slightly paler from lack of sunlight, but to her, just as perfect. His lips curved just slightly at the corners.

"Oh," Kakashi said as he went to pull up his mask again. "No, no, it's fine..." Amane said.

She crawled up on her hands and knees to the top of her giant mattress. Kakashi's sweat pant covered legs were spread slightly as Amane crawled up and sat in between them on her feet. She cautiously reached for Kakashi's face. Her touch, gentle, as if this moment was going to shatter if one thing was out of place. Hands traced the outline of Kakashi's face. The alcohol was thick on both of their breaths as they both leaned in. Alcohol had set in to both of their minds, and they seemed to think they were no longer responsible for their actions.

Amane's lips gently brushed Kakashi's. Her hands traveling from his face down along his strong neck down long his bare muscular arms. Kakashi was a little more reserved on his touching, but it wasn't long before he had his arms around her waist pulled tightly against him. Gentle kisses turned heated as Kakashi flipped Amane so that she was against the pillows on her bed.

Amane pushed away from Kakashi gently. Kakashi backed away from Amane, cupping the side of her face delicately. Her eyes were shifted to the left at the ground. "I-I shouldn't be doing this..." she whispered. She pulled her knees to her chest and pulled away from Kakashi's hand. "I'm- I'm getting drunk and I'm-"she looked at Kakashi.

She got up off the bed and walked over to the door and clutched her forehead. "My country needs me! I'm- I'm being so..." she paused for a grasp of words, "Irresponsible!" She grasped her head with both hand, letting out a frustrated gasp.

Kakashi smiled sadly, "I knew you would come around," he said. He got up off the bed and went over to Amane. He kissed her gently on the forehead and went for the door.

Amane's eyes widened, "Kakashi...I-I'm sorry, but I don't have the time right now..."

"I know," Kakashi smiled weakly, "I know. Just know that I'll be waiting. A couple weeks to straighten everything out, will be nothing like the years I've already done."

"Thank you," Amane said as she reached out and pulled Kakashi's mask up over his nose. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly, "Thank you for understanding."

Kakashi nodded and walked back to his room after he embraced her. Amane watched him walked down the hall. A sadden smile upon her lips, but a glimmer of hope within her honey hued irises. Everything was going to settle and then, she would go to the Leaf Village with Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi. She headed back to her bed.

* * *

The cold wave of water startled Amane as she sat up. She looked around at the cell that she was stuck in. Still drowsy with lack of sleep, her eyes didn't cooperate with her and the ninjas in front of her were just blurry black blobs. She shook her head and felt her head be pulled upwards by her hair.

"Well little sister, how are we this morning?" Yuri hissed, "I bet your just peachy, because of father dying, but don't worry we caught his killer."

This caught Amane's attention, "You did, how? Who?"

Yuri laughed, "Well it seems that your little friends are the culprits, in this game," she laughed, "Don't worry they're getting special treatment."

Amane's eyes widen as she heard the screams of Sakura , Naruto and Sasuke. She pulled at her hands, but they were chained to the wall. Her eyes narrowed into a death glare at her sister. She started to kick, in any hopes of hitting her.

"If you fucking touch them–" Amane hissed, "I'll rip your–"

Yuri grabbed her sister's throat, "You'll what? Rip my throat out? Believe me sister, you are in no position to threaten me, considering everyone believes that you are an accomplice in this whole situation." She let go of her throat and leaned in to her sister's ear, "Your life is in my hands as well as those three young shinobi. It would be tragic to send their sensei back all by himself, wouldn't it?"

"Where's Kakashi?" Amane hissed, her eyes glaring back at her sister. Her sister pulled away from her and smiled, "He's in the same cell as his students, just watching," Yuri sighed, "Don't worry, I'll leave the students alone, is that what you want?"

Amane nodded, "As well as Kakashi, I know where your abuse should be placed. Come on, sister, I know you hate me..." "Hate you?" Yuri snickered, "That's an understatement. Here's the deal, fight me. Kill or be killed."

Amane nodded, "Fine, when do you want to have this fight?" "Tomorrow, be prepared," Yuri said as she exited the cell room with her ninja cronies behind her.

Amane pulled her legs closer to her. She gazed at the barred window. The night sky was giving away to the pastel colors of a sunrise. She closed her eyes fighting back tears and to fix her thoughts. She had to think. She had to come up with a plan. If she was going to survive this fight with her sister, she needed a strategy. She needed...a miracle.


	10. Fading

Amane stood proudly in the training room that was near the end of the hallway. Her honey eyes were narrowed as she looked over her sister. This battle was life or death. Amane's fists tighten as she thought about who she was fighting for exactly. She closed her eyes, their faces flashed before her.

"_Naruto. Sakura. Sasuke. Father. Kakashi. The villagers."_

* * *

"What are you thinking?" Kakashi roared at her.

Amane was kneeling before a chained Kakashi. She winced at his yell, but looked back at his eyes. Kakashi was immediately taken back at the look within her eyes. This was a bittersweet look. The look of defiance, a strong-willed woman that he knew was within her. But there was sorrow mixed within it. This was her good-bye.

"Amane, don't," Kakashi's voice much more gentler.

"I have to. This is for you, for your students, for my country," Amane whispered as she pressed her forehead against his. She pressed her lips against his lips through his mask.

She slid back on her feet and stood up. She turned to look at the three students that were with Kakashi and smiled, "Thank you," she simply said. Amane turned to look at the guards that had sided with her sister and was escorted out to where she stood now.

* * *

"What are you thinking about, sister?" Yuri hissed.

Amane's eyes flashed open, her last moment with her beloved shattered. She blinked away uncertainty. This would not be the last time she saw Kakashi, or Naruto, or Sakura, or Sasuke. This was her time to protect them, to thank them.

She lunged at her sister. She was going to win. She _had_ to win.

Yuri blocked the punches Amane threw at her. Amane flattened her hand and charged chakra within her palm. Swinging once again, her punch was blocked, but not her palm. Yuri wasn't quick enough to block the better attack. Amane's palm struck Yuri, hard. Yuri skidded backwards and the crunching of ribs was evidence enough for Amane that she had hit her target.

Yuri doubled over and clutched her side. Breaths hissed from between her teeth as she bit back the pain. Yuri didn't stay down. The hit seemed to make her more powerful. She ignored the pain that was sinking into her side and went after Amane full force.

Punching, kicking, slapping, biting, anything to weaken the opponent. Amane pulled her arm back to throw a punch. Her fist landed in Yuri's cheek and Yuri flew into the wall. She caused an indent in the tiled walls and she slid down. Amane panted, she was utterly exhausted.

A bruise had formed on her cheek. Her clothes in tatters and just barely hung on her shoulders. She began to walk towards her sister's limp body. Blood leaked from her sides and right arm dripping onto the floor. She winced, was it over? Did her sister hit her head hard enough that it killed her. She clutched her wounded arm and with it, chakra surged around her right arm. The chakra formed and shaped into a blade. This was it, the final showdown.

Yuri pushed herself up against the wall. And looked up, a flash and her sister was gone. Another flash and she felt skin tearing within her chest. She looked down as her sister's arm embedded within her flesh. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth. Amane pulled her arm out of her sister's limp body and watched it fall to the ground.

Amane smiled, "Gotcha sister. Now with you dead...your grasp on our home, is dead as well."

She backed away and took one last look at her sister's body. Fingers twitched and Amane caught them, but it was too late. The tiled floor was forced up with chakra. Amane gasped as the floor ripped into her fragile body. Her chest now had a gaping hole and her blood splattered against the floor. She looked at her sister as she finally went limp and died. Amane felt the floor fall from the lack of chakra that caused it's form.

She fell to her knees, gasping. _"No...no, I-I can't die...I can't..."_ Her thoughts weren't enough and she fell limp onto the floor. Blood soaking her tattered clothes. Her honey hued irises began to grow dull with blood loss. She laid limply on the ground, death approaching.

_((Okay, so obviously this fic is coming to an end. The next chapter will be the last. Once you read the ending, I have an alternate ending for it. Let me know if you want the alternate ending. The other thing is, I just want to thank you all for your partonage! Please come back and read my other fics. The next one in line is a NejiTen fic hehe with a twist. Love you guys! Thank you so much!))_


	11. Conclusion: Flowers

_"Warmth. Am I-? No, not yet. But..."_

Amane's eyes fluttered open as she gazed upon Kakashi. He cradled her body, tears welling up within his eyes. Her vision was failing, but the fuzzy blobs on the other side of her she could tell were Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke. She couldn't see their faces, but she could hear Sakura's sobs.

"K-Kakashi..."

Her dry lips tried hard to force his name out. He looked at her and she could see a bittersweet smile beneath his mask. She reached up with her blood stained hand and held his jaw line gently. "How...?" she asked.

"The villagers caught wind of what was going on. Those who are loyal to you still got us out and went to find Yuri's followers. But it seems...I made it too late..."

Amane smiled, "Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault."

Kakashi stifled a sob, "You were suppose to come home with me..." he whispered, "You were suppose to..."

"We're suppose to do a lot of things, but we're only humans with a short amount of time on this earth. Mine was just shorter than most," Amane whispered hoarsely, blood trickling out from the corner of her mouth.

"Don't talk like that..." Kakashi said, "We'll get you healed up and you can come home with us. You can become a leaf ninja."

Amane shook her head, she knew Kakashi did know that she wasn't going to make it. She simply told him, "I'll tell you about what would have happened had I went home with you."

Kakashi nodded as he listened to her gently.

"I would have gone home with you. We would get a new apartment. One with a balcony, to watch the stars like we did when we were kids. I would become a teacher at the academy, because of my love of kids. As we aged, I would watch your three students become the wonderful people I know them to be."

"And what's that?"

Amane closed her eyes and smiled, "Naruto would become the Hokage he's always wanted to be. I would sit by you in the front row of his ordination. Sakura would grow into a beautiful woman, a medical ninja. She needs to be able to keep those teammates of hers patched up. And Sasuke, I can see him in your place years from now. An amazing teacher that would be able to teach his students the best."

Amane heard Naruto begin to sniffle. She opened her eyes and looked at Kakashi. His eyes were closed and he looked to be under massive pain as he forced the words out of his lips.

"What about us?"

Amane smiled, her favorite part, "We would live in the apartment with the balcony. Getting up every morning to watch the sunrise together. Our balcony would be decorated with lightly fragrant flowers, but they would have beautiful, vibrant colors. They would always have those colors since it's always warm in Leaf. We would have son, just one, bouncing baby boy..."

Kakashi opened his eyes at the thought of having a child, "What would his name be?"

"Obito..." Amane whispered, remembering the past Kakashi shared with her.

Kakashi's eyes widen, but she could see his smile, "Obito...I like that name..."

"I knew you would. Just think Kakashi, a little boy, to call your own..."

Kakashi couldn't hold back the tears as he began to cry more openly now. Amane could feel the tears as they splashed on her skin. She caressed his cheek gently.

"You're still the young boy, I fell in love with many years ago..." Amane smiled, her hand fell to her side. Her honey eyes closed.

Kakashi opened his eyes and shook her body, "Amane?" he questioned, "Wake up...please..." He knew it was useless, but he felt that just maybe...He pulled her body to him, whispering her name upon deaf ears. Kakashi whispered, the last words, he would ever say to her body. Maybe, just maybe she would hear them.

"I love you. I will miss you."

* * *

Sakura bent down and placed flowers on the grave of Amane. She smiled slightly at seeing the bouquets that laid on the patch of grass. She looked at her sensei, "We should go back now Sensei."

Kakashi nodded looking at Naruto and Sasuke who were down the path a little. "Go on ahead Sakura, I'll catch up with you guys."

Sakura nodded and ran down the gentle sloped hill towards her teammates. They began to walk ahead towards their home.

Kakashi bent down at the gave and smiled, "I promise to see them through. To make sure they become what you dream they would become. But it would help, if you watched over them; Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. And maybe sometime, I'll come back, and put new flowers on your grave."

He got up and looked at the headband she wore on her waist that was spread on the patch of dirt. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He turned away and nonchalantly walked to catch up with his students. He smiled, listening to the wind. He could swear he could hear Amane's giggles and her trademark phrase towards him, but something was added at the end.

"_Kakashi-kun...I miss you."_


End file.
